Communication systems frequently include a plurality of network nodes which are coupled to access nodes, e.g., base stations, through which end nodes, e.g., user devices or terminals that may be either fixed or mobile, are coupled to the network.
In a typical cellular communication network, a set of geographically dispersed base stations provide wireless access to a communications infrastructure. Users with wireless communication devices, or terminals, are able to establish a direct communication link with a suitable base station (or set of base stations) and then exchange information with other users and/or end systems throughout the communication network. Such systems could be designed to support a variety of different applications (e.g., telephony, text messaging, streaming audio/video, web browsing, file transfer, etc.); however, traditional systems have been primarily designed for telephony.
Due, in part, to their telephony focused design, traditional, circuit-switched, cellular networks provide little to no support for quality of service differentiation between traffic flows to/from various user devices, e.g., wireless terminals. However, circuit-switched, cellular network technology is presently being extended to support data applications as well. Additionally, there are emerging packet-switched cellular network technologies, which may be better suited for supporting a wide range of applications, including interactive data applications like instant messaging and online gaming. As cellular network technology evolves to support a wider range of diverse applications with differing requirements, new quality of service support mechanisms that enable differentiation between various traffic flows would be desirable. Note that many communication systems other than cellular networks have similar limitations and would also benefit from improved quality of service support mechanisms. Accordingly, there is a need for methods and apparatus that can provide functionality such as treating packets associated with identified traffic flows with different quality of service levels and/or dynamically controlling the quality of service support mechanisms to meet the requirements of various traffic flows.
In view of the above discussion, it should be appreciated that there is a need for new and improved ways of supporting quality of service in communication systems.